Troubles from the Past
by ZaydieS
Summary: My first fanfic, AU where the kishin was never revived, more info on the pre-chapter summary. Focuses on Kid, I tried to have some shipping between Kid/Maka, Soul/Tsubaki and Stein/Medusa, but only really succeeded with Stein. Rated T for language. Not sure if the battle at the end makes it T as well.. But yeah. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Summary of events: In the beginning, during the underground battle to prevent the revival of the kishin, Kid was fighting the fake Free. Unlike in the usual story, however, he did not stop to explain the trick to Black Star when he came. They rushed ahead, saving quite a bit of time. This allowed them to intercept Eruka and Free before they even got near the kishin. Again, Kid made Free stay in place by shooting at Eruka. Without the hallucinations to worry about, Black Star successfully destroyed the Black Blood vial. Medusa still lost focus for the opposite reason, and still did the soul split, and somehow it worked, even without the madness of the kishin. Later on, the oldest golem still mysteriously went berserk. This was because 800 years was just the end of Giriko's patience. Spirit and Stein rescued the kids from Giriko, instead of Justin. The Death scythes were still called as all they knew was that Arachne was up to something extremely bad. The events that followed were pretty much the exact same as the manga, up until the battle to rescue Kid. While they still managed to rescue him, Noah did not get killed, and they both managed to get away.

The wind was howling around Dr. Stein's laboratory as he stood and stretched. He needed a break from his work. He was almost done marking the lab reports from the children's latest dissection class, but his head was pounding.

Suddenly a long ding resonated through the lab. As Stein shuffled to the front door, he wondered who was at the door. Marie-san would have surely just let herself in as usual. A loud thump was heard as he reached for the knob. As the door swung open, a figure fell inside, blood pouring from wounds in her stomach.

Stein leapt into action and picked up the fetal figure in his arms, striding quickly towards the operation room. As he put the woman down he looked at her face and gasped. It was Medusa.

He quickly set about the surgery, quickly locating the area that bled the most. Finally, what seemed like hours later, he was done, and Medusa's breathing had become regular once more.

"Stein? Are you in there?" Marie's voice echoed from the hall. "I brought home dinner. You okay with chicken?" The door opened and she almost dropped the bag containing their food. "I-Is that…"

"Yeah," he said. "Go call Shinigami-sama."

The hallway of Shibusen School was silent but for the muffled sounds of footsteps. Few students stayed behind this late, but for once, Kid was one of them. The library had just closed, leaving him with 8 books to bring home. Unlike the other kids, Kid didn't live in the apartments nearby, so even though he had his board, the way home was still longer. Liz and Patty were at home already as the whole reason for him staying so late was so that they wouldn't distract him. However, distractions seemed to be all around him that day. He had been unable to focus in class that day because he had glanced at the girl in the row in front of him and noticed that her pigtails…. Were perfectly symmetrical! He had been assigned homework, and wouldn't have even known, had Liz not told him. Kid picked up his pace. The books were heavy, and it was difficult to hold them symmetrically. The sooner he was home, the better. He rounded a corner when- _CRASH!_ –someone collided with him.

"I'm so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going…" Kid looked up and saw Maka.

"It's alright, I was going pretty fast and wasn't really watching, as well," he replied. He suddenly stopped picking up his books as Maka continued retrieving her own. Her… pigtails… they were the same ones from the class. He'd forgotten Maka sat in front of him. She glanced at his last book and giggled.

"You're studying? I thought you didn't have to, being a shinigami and all…"

"Er," Kid glanced uneasily at the floor. Why was he nervous? "Liz and Patty are making me… They say I've been behind ever since I came back. They easily distract me, though, so I have to stay at the library in the afternoons."

"Well, if you need a quiet place, my place is always open. I'll see if I can convince Soul to hang out with Black Star or something."

"That'd be wonderful, actually. Are you free today or tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Maka smiled. "Do you wanna wait for me out front? I'll go check to see what Soul's doing later today."

"Sure."

"See you tomorrow, Soul!" Black Star's voice was audible throughout the whole school, of that, Soul was sure. Occasionally he would hear him while they were supposed to be in class.

"Yeah, see ya!"

"Black Star, you forgot your…. books… again…" Tsubaki walked up to Soul carrying a large pile of books.

"That's… a ton of books," he said, craning his head to see Tsubaki. "Want some help?"

"I'm used to it, he usually does this," she smiled, but he could tell she was struggling. He reached up and pulled half the pile into his own arms.

"Uhh, no offence or anything, but isn't this book for the next grade or something?" Soul glanced at the top of his pile as they started walking.

"That's actually our new textbook from now on. Didn't you hear Stein in class?" Tsubaki giggled. He hid his face behind the books as his face began to burn. _That was _so_ not cool, _he thought.

"Eh, right, well, I'll be fine. I'm pretty good at this stuff anyway," Soul put on a large grin in an effort to regain his dignity.

"Really? I'm finding it a little difficult," Tsubaki put on her best shocked face. They both knew Soul wasn't _really _that good.

"Well if you need some help, or anything, Maka's got dinner tonight so I'm free." He knew he was pushing it a bit, but Tsubaki's cooking was mouth-watering, and he could probably do a crash study session before leaving, so he`d have _something _to show.

"Sure thing, what time do you want to come?"

"Uhh, well," he hadn't really thought this far. "Is 6 good?"

"Fine by me," she smiled and pulled out her keys. They'd reached Tsubaki's place. Soul put the books on a table and left for his apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

When Medusa awoke, she found herself in a dark chamber with metal bands around her entire body. She smiled in spite of this.

"He did it," she mumbled.

Her smile vanished as she thought of how she'd received the wound. After days of thinking about it, she had decided she wanted to be a mother. While a nurse in Shibusen, she had heard many students speak lovingly of their parents, and the battle with the death scythe had left her wondering. She wanted to understand the bond between a parent and child.

So she had made Crona her favourite food for dinner. She told her she could go back to Shibusen, even. She had even thought about helping to reseal, or kill, the kishin. Crona took it the wrong way, however. She accused her of using her once more. She had taken a knife and stabbed her. It took everything in Medusa not to destroy her right there, so before using magic to get to Stein's lab, she told Crona to go back, and find the girl called Maka.

Now as she thought it over, she wondered what had become of her. She had never been like this before. Love was… something she'd never known, never wanted to know. She hadn't even felt love for her own sister, Arachne.

Suddenly the door creaked open and a familiar shadow appeared.

"What happened?" Stein asked. He sat on a bench that had gone unnoticed.

"I… I wanted…" _He won't believe you. _"I wanted to…" _Remember the battle underground? He didn't believe you then. Why should he now?_

"You became curious, didn't you?"

"I'm a scientist. I'm naturally curious about everything."

"Yes, and this time was no exception."

"I… You wouldn't believe me if I told you." _I'll bet he's laughing inside._ She tried to push the thoughts out of her mind. She was going to be better now.

"Wouldn't I? I'm also a scientist, you know."

"I wanted… to experience… love." A silence followed. She looked up, expecting him to laugh.

"Love isn't something you can just decide to have one day. You have to work for it." The response startled her. She hadn't expected him to even believe her, much less understand. "What I said underground… It was only half true, you know. It's true that you and I, we can't love, not really. Not the way we are. But if someone were to believe in us… then, I think maybe we've still got a chance." The way he spoke almost made it seem like he longed for love as well. She had to stop herself from apologizing over the underground incident. _Got to keep _some _sense of dignity…_

"So what's the plan? I somehow doubt you'll be willing to just let me go."

"No, we're keeping you here for the time being. I thought you might want to know, though, that Crona came into the school a little while earlier, soon after we'd brought you here." Medusa breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah… You _do _care," Stein smiled and she smiled sadly back. There was an awkward silence before he stood up, saying that the night class was starting.

"Will you be back later?" Medusa asked, wincing as she realised how desperate she must sound.

"Nothing better to do," he claimed before the door shut once more.

"So let me get this straight. You already know pretty much everything you have to, but they still want you to be studying?"

"Yeah… They won't even give me my homework until I've studied for a set amount of hours. It's tiresome," Kid reached for a cookie from the tray Maka had just placed on the coffee table. _Amazing, _he thought, _even the chocolate chips are symmetrical! _Then he saw one that was out of place. Immediately, he picked it out and popped it in his mouth.

"That's not how you're supposed to study at all, though!" The chip left a gap in the cookie. Frowning, he tried to nibble slightly on the opposite side to even it out.

"I'm not sure if Liz, much less Patty, even knows what studying is. They're just happy as long as I have a book in my hand." He'd nibbled too much. Even worse, the cookie was beginning to crumble slightly where he held it.

"Uhh… Here," Maka said, putting a small plate into the hand without a cookie. "In any case, do they count your time here as studying?" He started to brush off the other side of the cookie where he hadn't been holding it.

"I hope so, otherwise I don't see why they'd let me out of the house. Liz probably thinks it's okay because it's you." This was turning into a nightmare. Not only were the sides not crumbling evenly, but there was still a larger gap from the chocolate chip… on only one side. Glaring furiously at the cookie, he bit off both the chip gap and the place he'd nibbled.

"I see…" Maka upturned one eyebrow at his strange cookie behaviour, but said nothing. Suddenly Blair waltzed in in a cloud of steam, wearing only a towel.

"Ooh! You brought Blair someone to play with while Soul's gone! Yay!" Maka started to say something, but it was too late. Kid scarcely had time to shift his weight away when he felt her on top of him.

"Blair!" Maka scolded as Kid closed his eyes. "Kid came here to study, not to play!"

"What?" She leaned back enough for Kid to breathe again. "But then Blair will be all lonely…"

"If you really want some company, how about you go to the nice fish seller down the street?" she coaxed.

"Well… okay… But I'll be back, okay?" With that, there was a puff of smoke, and Kid opened his eyes to see Maka opening the door for Blair – now a cat.

"Sorry about that, Kid. I completely forgot about her…"

"I-It's alright," he replied. He picked up another cookie as a silence filled the room. "The cookies are great," he bit into one, taking out a chip that wasn't quite in line with the others.

"Thanks," she smiled. "So if you don't really need to study, what are you going to do?"

"Well… I don't really know… Hey, how about I teach you how to play basketball?"

"Sure! I don't really need to study either," she grinned and opened a closet for a ball. A few minutes later they'd walked to the court.

"Alright, so first things first… When you move around with the ball, you have to be bouncing it as you move. Otherwise you'll be 'travelling.'" He motioned with his fingers for quotations.

"Okay…" Maka started bouncing the ball and headed towards the net.

"Wait, Maka!"

"Huh?" she turned around.

"You can't dribble with both hands. If you want to switch, that's okay, but only one at a time."

"Dribble?"

"Uh… It's basically bouncing the ball."

"Oh. Okay," she began dribbling again and shot at the net. It missed the board completely. "Man, I'm not very good at this."

"That's alright. Nobody starts off perfect." Kid walked over and picked up the ball. "Here, watch how I shoot," he said as he centred himself in front of the net.

"So, it's a healthy mind and a healthy body… I guess that makes sense," Tsubaki said, and jotted it down in her notebook.

"Yep… one way to remember is… um…" Soul tried to recall the way Maka had shown him shortly before kicking him out for eating Kid's cookies. He tried to explain that Kid probably didn't want a full dozen anyway, but he'd had to leave anyway. "If you think of something that SMB could stand for!" He suddenly remembered.

"Oh, because it's soul, mind and body, right?"

"Exactly," he grinned.

"So what do you use that SMB stands for?" Soul's grin faded for a second. Then he remembered what he'd practiced on the way over.

"Shibusen has Maka's Books," he explained. "Cause on the rare occasion that she doesn't forget some kind of book there, she's wishing she picked up a different book from the library." Tsubaki laughed. _Score!_

"I think I'll use that too, until I think of my own one," she smiled. Looking at the clock she jumped up. "Dinnertime already?!" she said as she darted into the kitchen. Soul followed.

"Where're the plates?" he asked as she pulled a casserole out of the oven. She nodded towards a cupboard.

"Sorry we didn't get much done today…" she apologized before striding to the table, where a cork circle had already been placed. Soul arranged 3 plates before reaching for the cups he'd spotted beside the plates.

"It's cool; anything more would have been going ahead, anyway." _Also, I wouldn't have known anything past 3 more pages… _"So where's Black Star, anyway? I can't see him missing a great meal like this." She blushed at the compliment.

"Actually, he's out training. I made him a boxed dinner because he said he wouldn't be home for supper."

"Oh," he said. He put one of the plates back. "So it's just us?"

"Yep… I promised Black Star I'd save him some casserole for lunch tomorrow, so that's why I made so much." Tsubaki began serving up as Soul searched the drawers for silverware.

"Cool," he said, finally finding it. He brought two forks to the table and pulled out the chairs. They began eating in silence. _Come on, man, say something. This is practically a date! _"Um, I like the casserole. It's really good." _Lame._

"T-thanks…" she replied, swallowing. "So, um… do you want to take a break from studying after this? Maybe we could go to the basketball court or something."

"Yeah, that'd be awesome. We could invite some of the others for a game or something." However, when they called Soul's house, nobody answered. "Weird… maybe Maka's walking Kid home or something." He tried Kid's house as Tsubaki cleaned the dishes.

"No, Kid's at your place, Soul. Why, did something happen?"

"No, I was just gonna see if he wanted to play a game or something. If he comes back in the next couple minutes give us a call, okay?"

"Sure thing. See you later, then."

"He's not there?" Tsubaki entered the room, the cleaning finished.

"Nope. If we don't get a call in ten minutes I guess we can just go on our own."

"Yeah. In the meantime, we can play cards for a bit," she pulled a deck from a desk nearby. Soul put on a grin.

"Bring it on."

In the cold of the cell, Stein could see his breath.

"How's Crona?" Medusa asked. Her eyes had brightened when he'd walked in. "Was she in the night class? Did she say anything to you?"

"No, she's not, sorry. And I wasn't there when she first came in. They've put her in her old dorm, though. She'll be attending class starting tomorrow. Of course, she'll be doing after school chores as punishment for her earlier betrayal. We can't just let something like that go."

"I understand. What did they decide she would be doing?"

"Well, they're still thinking, but until a final decision is reached, she'll be helping clean the classrooms, and then she'll work in the library for an hour or so. Anything past that and she won't have time to study or sleep."

"Does she know that… that I'm…"

"No, not yet. I don't know what we're going to do about that," Stein sighed as he lit a cigarette. "On a brighter note, we're moving you to a more comfortable cell in an hour."

"Why is that?" Medusa cocked her head slyly.

"Because if you try to escape, there will be a collar on your neck that will explode."

"Like you have Eruka wearing… I see," she smiled. "No worries, then. I won't try to escape. But… do you suppose I could see Crona? Not now, obviously. But... maybe later? I'd like to talk to her."

"If she agrees, then she'll be able to talk to you from outside the door. Even with the collar, you won't be allowed visitors for a while."

"Ah," she sighed. "So… how's it been at Shibusen? I hear you guys rescued Kid, recently."

"I see you've been paying attention to what goes on," Stein blew out a puff of smoke, leaning his arms on his legs. "Yeah, Kid came back. Noah was sucked into the book, though, and Gopher grabbed it and ran away. We don't know where they are now."

"Hmm… Well the important thing is that Kid's back, huh?" Medusa realised she was happy about this. _But why? Mere days ago you wouldn't have minded having him as a hostage yourself… _She shook off the feeling and smiled, despite her unpleasant thoughts. She was switching sides, she realised.

"You've definitely changed," he said, breaking her thoughts as though he had heard them, too. "I doubt that you'd have said that at any other time in the past."

"To be completely honest, it's troubling me. I'm finding myself disappointed at things that would normally have made me delighted, and vice versa." At this Stein laughed. Her face grew into a scowl.

"It's the love, Medusa. It's changing you, even now. Soon you won't even notice that you shouldn't be disappointed. You just will be."

"I… don't know how I feel about that. It's almost like I've shed my skin. I'm having trouble fitting into the new one."

"Don't worry," he smiled and put out the cigarette on the bench. "You'll get used to it. By the way," he stood up, "thanks." He headed towards the door.

"For what?"

"Working on you was almost as fun as dissecting you," he grinned and left.

"Agh, my form was so awful that time!" Maka grumbled as the ball missed the net yet again.

"Don't worry, you're definitely getting better," Kid grinned as he strode to where the ball was. He tossed it back. "You can even catch my passes, now." She rolled her eyes, but smiled. He walked back to the middle line. "Okay, if you can get this next one in, we can try something new."

"There's more?" Maka exclaimed.

"Well, normally there are people blocking the net…" he explained. Suddenly a hand clamped over his mouth and an arm went around his arms. Instinctively he jabbed his elbows behind him. He heard a grunt and the grip loosened. He quickly broke free, but didn't bother to turn around. "If you're gonna sneak up on me, Soul, at least tell your back-up about your plan."

"Aw, come on, and Tsubaki worked so hard to help me conceal my presence!"

"Huh?" Maka turned around. "Hey, Soul, what're you doing here?"

"Trying to sneak up on us," Kid laughed.

"Is _that _why you wanted to know how to conceal your presence?" Tsubaki walked up.

"Hey, I _did _manage to catch you off guard, at least," Soul claimed.

"Oh, please. The only reason I didn't hit you harder was because I knew it was you before you even grabbed me," Kid countered.

"How bout we settle it over a game, then?"

"B-but I haven't perfected my shot, yet," Maka protested.

"I don't see how winning a game makes you any more right, anyway…" Tsubaki put in.

"That's okay," Kid grinned. "Maka's a lot better than last time she played. She'll be on my team."

"Alright, that leaves Tsubaki with me!" Soul grinned. "We're _so _gonna kick your butts!" The game began. Maka blocked one of Tsubaki's passes to Soul, but in her excitement, Soul managed to grab the ball and shoot. A half hour later, everyone was tired. The score was 8-3, in favor of Soul's team.

"Good game," Maka panted.

"Kid was right, you _are_ lots better," Tsubaki gave her a bottle of water. Half the water was gone when she got it back.

"And that's with only a few hours' practice," Kid put in.

"Well, it's getting pretty dark out, how about we call it a night?" Soul asked. Everyone agreed, and soon Kid was walking in his front door, tired.

"Where have you been?" Liz demanded the moment the door was closed.

"Uh… with Maka… Like I said I would be," he tried to shuffle his way around her, but it was no use.

"And were you studying, like you said you would be?"

"Uhm, well... I ended up teaching her some stuff actually…" _Not a lie… I'm sure I can explain it all later…_

"Really…." Liz gazed fiercely at him, as though looking right into his memories.

"Yeah," he said.

"What did you teach her?" _Shit._

"Well, Blair came in… so we went and I taught her to play basketball," Kid crossed his fingers.

"Oh, Blair came in? Okay. Well I guess I can understand why you had to leave, then… but are you at least able to finish another week's worth of homework? There's only a couple more weeks' worth left, so you might actually be able to finish it all by the weekend."

"Yeah, sure… did you already put it in my room?" he sighed in relief.

"Yep," she smiled and headed towards the kitchen. "I'll bring dinner up in about 10 minutes, okay?"

"Alright," he said, and strode up the stairs.

"Dude, you like Kid!" Soul laid back on the couch laughing as Maka prepared her dinner.

"I do _not!_" she retorted. "For the last time, he was just teaching me to play ball because Blair interrupted our studying!"

"Kid needed to study?" he stopped laughing for a second, and then burst out once more. "Give me a break!" His laughter ended shortly after a Maka-chop to the head. "Owww, you didn't need to do that…"

"I found it necessary," the stove sizzled with the aroma of soup.

"Still, Blair told me she left you guys alone. So really, you didn't have to go. You _know _she's always gone for a long time when she sees that fish dude."

"Well, he didn't really need to study, anyway…" she put a bowl, cup and spoon on the table.

"So… let me get this straight. Kid comes over to study. Then he doesn't need to study. So you learn to play basketball. That _totally _makes sense," Soul opened the fridge and pulled out the milk.

"Look, Liz and Patty are _making _him study! He already knows the stuff he needs to, but they just don't seem to get it," she grumbled as she stirred the soup. "Besides, you were all set to cram study just so you could see Tsubaki today."

"Hey, don't go changing the topic! I just really like her cooking," he grabbed himself a cup to hide his burning face from Maka.

"Right. _That's _why you showed up at the court today…" she poured the soup into her bowl and sat down. Soul soon did the same, pouring them both glasses of milk.

"That was just cause, uh, we were getting tired of studying." _That was such a lame excuse._

"That's seriously your excuse?" Maka laughed. "That's enough for me. You like Tsubaki."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Come on Soul, you wouldn't have been able to hide it from me anyway. We're partners, remember? Don't worry though; I'll keep your secret." There was a silence, filled only by the slurps of soup and milk.

"Thanks," he said after a while. "But hey, Maka?"

"Yeah?"

"What _do _you think of Kid?"

"Uh, I think of him as a friend, why?"

"Well. I don't know for sure or anything, but I mean, he seemed to be really relaxed when he was teaching you to play ball. Any other day he would have turned around before I got within 5 feet of him, even with Tsubaki's help."

"Um," Maka blushed. "It's probably just you," she said. Her face became serious. "Kid doesn't seem like the kind of person to be interested in relationships like that. It's probably just because it's the first time in a while that nobody's been expecting something of him since he got back, you know? I mean, Liz has been harping on him to catch up in school, and everyone I see looking at him is looking at him with pity. Like, gosh, he just went through months of captivity and he's really okay?"

"Yeah, I guess I see what you mean. So, do you think you can get him to do that again tomorrow?"

"What?!"

"Well, if Tsubaki helps me, I think maybe we can really take him down this time!"

"And what do you plan on doing even if you can get that close again?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… Hmm. What _will _I do…?" Soul trailed off.

"Ooh, I got an idea!"

"That'd be a first," he joked.

"No, seriously! It'd be awesome! We would have to get all the others in on it, though," Maka drank the last of her soup, leaving him in suspense.

"Uh… You _are _going to tell me what it is, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," she said, putting her bowl down. "In completely basic terms, we'd throw a party."

"Uh… so what does that have to do with me sneaking up on Kid?" he asked, not getting it.

"You'd bring him to the party, of course."

"Ohh, _I _see. It's a surprise party. You know, we _could _just make it so that he`d get the surprise when he came home from school or something."

"No, because Liz has been having him stay at the library during the day, so by the time he got home there'd be no time for a party. But if she told him he could hang out with me instead…"

"I get it. So basically, you guys play ball while we set up the party, and then when we're ready I come and 'get' Kid?"

"Actually, now that I've said it out loud, it sounds kind of freaky for Kid, especially after what he's been through…" Maka looked down. She sipped her milk.

"Excuse me? You just finished lecturing me about how people look at him with pity and now you don't want to give him a super surprise party because of the same reason people look at him like that?"

"Well… I guess when you put it that way…"

"Just don't worry. We're gonna make the party so great, he'll forget how he even got there," Soul downed the last of his milk and stood up to wash the cup.

"Well…" she started. "Alright, I'll tell the other girls about it and you can tell Black Star. Just make sure he helps with the party, because if he ends up coming with you, he'll definitely tip Kid off about where you are. That is, if you're anywhere near him."

"Don't worry. I'll figure it out."


	3. Chapter 3

Bri-i-ing!

The bell signalling the end of class rang. "Crona, would you mind staying a few extra minutes?" Stein asked her. Maka smiled, telling her she'd see her after lunch. The rest of the class filed out as Crona walked up to his desk.

"D-did you want me to help out somewhere for a while?" she muttered nervously.

"No, not during lunch time. I just wanted to let you know something. I'm not sure how you'll take this, but…"

"She's here, isn't she? M-my mother…" Crona 's eyes swept along the floor.

"Well, yes… whatever you do is completely up to you. You don't have to see her or anything if you'd rather not."

"I… I don't know how to deal with this…" she mumbled.

"That's okay. You can just continue getting used to being back at school, for now. I hear Maka and the others are planning a party soon. How about you see if you can help them out? I'm sure you could be excused from your chores for a day or so."

"Uh, y-yeah. Okay. I hope they still want to be friends…"

"Don't worry," Stein said encouragingly, "I'm sure they will. In any case, that's all I wanted. You can go eat your lunch now." At a snail's pace she meandered out. When class resumed, he kept a close eye on her. She seemed to be adjusting well, and Maka was most definitely being friendly to her. He couldn't help but notice the children two rows back, which were looking sadly at Kid. _It's been a while, now… _he thought. _If it were any other kid, the looks would have stopped days ago. _He let it be. If he said anything, the looks would merely continue. After class ended, he went down to see Medusa again. The door creaked open and she looked up.

"Ah, Stein! Thank you for having them bring these books here," she smiled. Yes, she certainly was different. Normally he'd never have expected a sincere smile from her. Also, he wasn't even sure if she liked books…

"No problem," he returned the smile.

"So, did you see Crona?" she asked, getting right to the point.

"Yes. I told her- well, she guessed before I could, really, but she now knows you're here."

"Thank you," she looked at her hands in her lap. "How was your class today?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

"We dissected another frog…" Stein recalled happily. "A couple of the kids looked sick and left about halfway through, though."

"That doesn't surprise me too much. I was never the dissecting sort of scientist," Medusa leaned back on the loft she'd been given as a bed. A silence ensued, but it was a comfortable one. Stein sat down beside her after a while. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Careful, if you get too close I might want to dissect you some more."

"Stein… have you experienced love, before?" He was quiet for a moment.

"I'd like to say I have. But only really from my parents, before they died. I never really connected with many other people… I was lucky to even have Spirit-kun as a friend, to be honest."

"I see," she spoke quietly. She felt his arm suddenly go around her, and rest on her shoulders.

"Don't worry, Medusa. I'm sure that eventually we'll be able to feel love." _Medusa's not the only one changing, _Stein thought as he left hours later.

"Hey, Kid, if you want from now on, instead of going to the library you can hang out with Maka, okay?"

"What?" Kid was immediately suspicious.

"Well, I mean. She told me earlier today how you knew so much and how you were probably ready for almost all your homework from the past month or so, so I mean… I was just thinking, maybe you could have a break for a while. Plus, since its Maka, maybe you'll be more willing to study."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Uh, that Maka is very… positive about studying?" Liz narrowed her eyes.

"Oh. Okay. Alright, well I'll ask if she wants some more basketball tips or something, then." Just then, she walked out from the library.

"Oh hey, Kid. Liz, where's Patty?"

"She zoomed off with Tsubaki, saying she was gonna eat candy or something," she laughed.

"Anyway," Kid interjected. "I was wondering if you wanted to play some more basketball later. Liz said I was allowed to hang out with you for the next couple days…" _Man that sounds childish._

"Really?" Maka's eyes glowed with excitement. "Of course! I just need to drop these books off at home, though, is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure," he replied.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I think I promised I'd get Blair some fish from the store, too… Do you mind if I just come by when I'm done that?"

"Alright," he said as Liz became a gun. He brought out his board and a short while later, they were home. Liz immediately started rummaging around for stuff. "Uhh… Liz, what are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing…" her face turned red. She was hiding something. There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," his face became a smile and he rushed to the door. As he reached for the knob, he wondered how Maka had finished her errand so fast, since the fish seller was halfway across town. It wasn't Maka who stood at the door, though. It was Gopher. His smile faded.

"What's wrong?" Gopher said with a spine-chilling smile. "Are you unhappy to see me?"

"W-what are you doing here?" Kid managed to choke out. He began to shuffle back inside, but Gopher reached past him and shut the door before he could get a foot in.

"I'm only delivering a message," Gopher said. "This time..."

"You're on shaky ground, coming right to my house," Kid tried to sound confident. Gopher only laughed.

"Noah-sama wanted to tell you," he started. "He'll be coming. He wants you back." With a laugh, he pulled out a sheet of paper, burned it, and was immediately sucked in. Kid immediately opened the door and stepped inside, his eyes still glued to the place where the paper had disappeared.

"W-what are you doing inside, Kid? Wasn't that Maka?" Liz looked white, and was hiding something behind her back. He didn't have the energy to look. He debated on what to say, though. If he told her the truth, the security at Shibusen would triple. The Looks, as he'd named them, would most certainly intensify, and they were just beginning to lessen. But on the other hand, he really couldn't get taken again.

"No," he said, filling the silence as he debated what to do. Before he could say anything else, Liz rushed into an adjoining room. He decided he would tell her later, when she wasn't so obviously trying to hide something from him. Minutes later, there was another knock at the door.

"Hey, Kid," Maka smiled when he opened the door. "What's wrong? You look pale." He debated telling Maka… but that would only dampen the mood. Later, he decided. He'd go to his father first and see if they could just do things quietly. A few minutes later, they'd arrived at the court, and Maka began to practice her shooting. She seemed nervous, and hadn't gotten a single shot in ten minutes later.

"Agh, missed again," she muttered, and darted out to go get the ball.

"Uh, Maka…" he began.

"Yeah?" she asked, coming back. She smiled at him.

"Eh, do you want to try something else? Your shot seems a bit off." She walked back, and seemed to notice something behind him before looking back at him. He didn't sense anything behind him, so he shrugged it off. It was probably just his nerves, racked from Gopher's visit.

"No," Maka smiled. "After all, if it's my shot that's bad, then that should be what I work on, right?"

"I guess so. Alright, this time try bending your knees a bit more," he instructed as she got ready to shoot again. Suddenly he felt his arms snap to his sides as chains were wrapped around them. "Huh?"

He began to turn his head to see who was behind him when his hair was roughly pulled, forcing his head forward. In the same instant, a gloved hand covered his mouth. Maka was just about to shoot and evidently didn't hear the clanking of the chains. He managed a muffled grunt through the glove, but at the same time the ball rebounded off the top of the board, and she started walking to grab it again. Struggling, the chains began to wrap around his legs as he was lifted. He bit on the glove, but the fabric was quite thick, and he couldn't even feel the fingers inside. A blindfold was placed over his eyes and the last things he saw were the trees outside the court. He focused on his other senses. The chains were tight against him, and he could scarcely move even his feet. He heard Maka suddenly.

"Kid? Where did…." He tried to yell, but next to no sound would make it through the glove. Maka's voice was fading. Within a few seconds, he could only hear the streetlights above him. Suddenly he was spun around and around, until he no longer knew which way they'd come from. _Smart, _he thought. _But that means that they plan on bringing me somewhere by foot, or vehicle. _This reassured him somewhat. If it were Gopher or Noah, they would have brought him outside Death City and then used magic. _Then… who would do this?_ He began to worry slightly. _Soul, _he suddenly realised. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was just Soul and Tsubaki. No, but it couldn't be. There were three pairs of hands carrying him. Suddenly he was lowered and bare hands fumbled to unknot the blindfold. He winced as several hairs were pulled out. At the same time he heard a door opening. The chains around him loosened and disappeared. He was about to reach up to swat away the hand that was trying to undo the knot, when a blade sliced the fabric for him.

"Surprise!" a chorus of voices rang through his ears as his eyes adjusted to the light of… his own front hall. It was decorated with streamers and balloons and there was plenty of food around on assorted tables. In front of one of the tables were Liz, Black Start and Maka. Many other students were crowded around other tables. Tsubaki and Soul stepped in from behind him.

"Sorry about the entrance," she smiled. "It was Maka's idea."

"Maka's…" Kid was shocked. So she _had _seen something behind him.

"Yeah, but it was a fun excuse for me to sneak up on you!" Soul ruffled his hair. Kid turned to see who the third person was.

"Patty? You were in on this, too?" he asked as he fixed his hair.

"Sure she was," Maka walked the short distance between them, Liz and Black Star behind her. "We all were."

"Especially the great ME!" Black Star shouted. "Sorry I couldn't be there to help with the big entrance, but my assistance was required here. After all, if I don't help make the party, then what's gonna make the party worth coming to?!"

"Right," Kid smiled. He knew if Black Star was there, there'd have been no way they would sneak up on him. The other kids began moving around, the surprise over. He asked Maka aside from the others. "So what's the party for, anyway?" he asked.

"Well, I noticed you looked down lately, so I figured we could throw a surprise party for you. Plus, I convinced Liz that you don't need to study anymore," she said convincingly.

"Oh," he smiled, but inside he was disappointed. If they thought he looked 'down,' enough to make a party, there was no way the looks would stop soon, even if it looked like they were slowing. "I'm going to go get some food," he said, and headed towards the tables. He examined each side before taking a plate from the left, which appeared to have more sandwiches. He went to a back hallway and placed the food on a table before heading to the bathroom. In the mirror, he dialed his father. Even at this hour, he would still be in the Death room.

"Hello father," he said as the picture filled the mirror.

"Hello Kid! Are you enjoying the party?" Death said in his usual comical manner.

"Er, well, yes, but that's not why I called you. Earlier, before Maka came-"

"Is this about the magic we sensed by the house?" his tone became serious.

"Yes." Kid paused for a bit. So he already knew. "It… it was Gopher." There was a silence. "I would appreciate it if any changes were made in secret," he added. Before things like added security wouldn't have bothered him. But ever since he'd become friends, he just couldn't take those looks. They might drive him crazy. Before his father could reply, he added, "I… I should get back to the party." He didn't like being uncomfortable around his father, and for that he hated Gopher. No, not just Gopher. _Noah._ Even without saying it, the thought brought a sour taste to his mouth. He went back into the hallway and grabbed his plate from the table, even though he wasn't really hungry. He stopped himself a few feet from the door. He had to cool down, first. After a few deep breaths, he entered the room again. He saw Maka chatting gaily with Black Star, Tsubaki and Soul. Liz and Kilik were watching what seemed to be a three way staring contest between Fire, Thunder and Patty. Other students from Shibusen meandered about, many holding various foods, a few dancing to the music. He mindlessly swayed along. He bit into the centre of his sandwich, pleased with the taste. Even making simple foods like sandwiches, Tsubaki was amazing.

"Hey, Kid, come here!" He looked up and saw Maka waving him over. He grinned and walked across the room. Black Star had gone off to eat more food, and Tsubaki had gone with him. "I was just wondering…"

"Yeah?" he asked after a couple seconds. She looked nervously to Soul.

"I'll, uh… I'm gonna go get some chicken or something," he muttered and stalked off.

"Okay, so basically, when I got here I was talking to Liz," Maka began.

"Yeah…" Kid urged her on.

"And she told me that someone came before I did, and that you looked really freaked out when you came back in." She stopped for a moment, and then continued. "I had thought it was just me, but you also seemed really distracted at the court today, so…" She paused again. "Y-you know, if something's going on, you can tell me, okay?" He looked around quickly, and motioned for her to follow him. They went to the back hallway and once again he put down his plate on a table.

"Can you do me a favor?" She nodded. "Promise me you won't tell anyone this... Except, I suppose, the rest of our group."

"Sure," she smiled encouragingly.

"The person who came before you did…. Well… it was Gopher." Maka gasped and brought her hand to her mouth.

"What did… What did he say?"

"He said he was bringing a message from Noah," he managed to keep his voice steady, but inside he was dripping with hate. "That… they were coming back for me." He was shocked as he suddenly felt Maka's warm embrace around him. His body was tensed up, so he relaxed slightly.

"If they try to come anywhere near you, Kid," she whispered into his ear. "I'll kill them myself." He lifted his arms and hugged her back. He rested his head on her shoulder.

"Erk," somebody suddenly said. "Sorry. Looks like we're disturbing the moment." Kid and Maka parted, both glad for the dimness of the hallway to shield their burning faces. In front of them stood Soul, Black Star and Tsubaki.

"Em, no, actually we have something to tell you guys," Maka said. "Can you see Liz and Patty nearby? And no," she stopped Black Star mid-turn, "please don't yell for them. It's a personal conversation," her voice was low.

"Oh," he responded. Tsubaki quietly left, returning moments later with Liz and Patty.

The group was silent as they all stepped further down the dark hall.

"Listen… This… well… It's about earlier today," Kid said promptly. "When someone came to the door."

"Before Maka came?" Liz asked. "You looked really… well, freaked."

"Well, yeah. It…" _It never gets easier to say, that's for sure. _"It was Gopher." The group was silent, but for a sharp intake of breath from those who hadn't known. "He didn't do anything, this time."

"What do you mean, this time?" Patty demanded, serious for the first time since he'd been back.

"If he comes back, I'll kill him myself!" Black Star assured him.

"Black Star, this is a quiet talk," Tsubaki calmed him down.

"I've already informed my father about this," Kid struggled to keep his composure. "And I would appreciate it if you kept this information to yourselves." The others nodded. "We probably won't be able to do many get-togethers for the next little while, as security will most definitely be tightened."

"Pfft, security?" Black Star grinned. "Who needs that when you've got us?"

"Plus," Maka put in, "it won't seem abnormal to the other kids if it's us hanging around you."

"We could have shifts!" Liz's face lit up. "Patty and I would handle it at the house, of course."

"He could stay at our place in the afternoons so you guys could rest," Soul added.

"That leaves ME for the mornings! Don't worry," Black Star pounded his back. "You're in good hands."

"Do I even get any say in this?" Kid was astounded. In a matter of minutes, his life for the next… who knew how long… was being planned. There was a stunned silence.

"He's right, this is his life we're talking about," Maka said quietly. "He should be able to have some freedom, regardless of what's going on." There was a muttered agreement.

"So, are you okay with the plan we've made, or did you want to change it?" Liz asked. He was silent for a moment.

"It's… fine. I just… every now and then, perhaps we could change it up a bit," he said at last. Content with the decision, the group shuffled its way back. Soul and Black Star were out of earshot by the time Liz spoke up.

"Hey, Kid…" she began. "How come you didn't tell us this earlier?" He hung his head slightly.

"Well, at first it was because I could tell you were hiding something. I decided I would tell you after I came back from basketball with Maka. Which, I have."

"And you decided you would tell me after ball?" Maka guessed. Kid only nodded. The rest of the party passed by with little excitement. The mood seemed unaffected, despite what Kid had feared.

"Alright, I'll take the first shift. Patty, you go get some sleep, I'll wake you up in a couple hours," Liz said after everyone had left.

"Wait, you guys are staying up all night?" Kid protested.

"Of course. If he knows where you live, it wouldn't be too hard just to crawl through your bedroom window," she replied. He began to say something, but stopped. No matter what, there was no way he'd be able to convince Liz. He knew just how stubborn she was, and he was too tired to argue much anyway. After changing into his pyjamas, he let Liz in and lay down, immediately falling asleep.

"So, I guess you really _do _like Kid, huh?" Soul poked Maka in the side as they walked home.

"I was just comforting him," she retorted. "So, anyway, I guess this means only symmetrical dinners from now on."

"I am _so _not cooking those."

"Wha- I'm not just going to completely take dinner duties!"

"Well, I guess Kid will just have to eat something asymmetrical. Or cook for himself when it's my day…" he trailed off.

"That's just cruel," she stated, opening the door. Exhausted from the party, they quickly dozed off.


	4. Chapter 4

"Stein-kun says you've changed your ways," Death's voice, though still comical, was serious. "Is this true?"

"Would you honestly believe me if I told you it was so?" Medusa stood in bare feet on the stage-like floor of the Death room. To the side, Spirit watched suspiciously. "I came to ask what is to become of me."

"We have yet to decide. As it is, you were to remain in prison."

"However…" she egged on.

"Stein has requested that we do something else. The details are still undecided, however. You are to go through a re-evaluation."

"I see. And how is this evaluation to be tested? I suspect you don't trust me to interact with just anyone, yet."

"Actually, Medusa," Spirit stepped up, "we're pretty sure you'll pass the first part with flying colours, because even if you haven't changed and there's some ulterior motive to this, you'll want us to at least believe you've changed."

"Right," she looked at him although she was above him, but inside she felt jealous. She might not show it, but surely at some point he must have felt Maka's love. A love for a father.

"You'll still have your collar, of course, but you will now be staying with Stein-kun," Death said.

"Will I know when I'm being tested?"

"Of course not," Spirit laughed. "You'll have to behave well 24/7 to convince us. And even that might not be enough." Medusa's face showed no emotion.

"That'll be easy," she smiled, without a trace of menace.

"So you think, now," Death said. "We will be sending troubles your way to test how much you've _really _changed."

"If that's the case, prepare to be shocked," Medusa laughed, a full hearted laugh, shocking them so much that she'd left before they could manage out a single word.

Kid awoke with a start when he felt Patty's finger in his ear.

"Agh, Patty, I told you not to do that!" he sat up violently.

"Sooorry," Patty laughed. "Your alarm wouldn't wake you up, though." Kid picked up the alarm clock.

"That's because you turned the volume off!" he protested. Patty suddenly looked slightly worried.

"You were talking in your sleep, you know."

"About what?"

"'Bout your momma."

"I don't have a mother," he stated darkly. At that moment, Liz walked in.

"Hurry up, breakfast is ready," she grumbled. Kid looked at her face before she turned away. She looked so tired… and it was his fault. He shooed Patty out and went to wash his face. His dreams bothered him, evidently more than he'd realised. Talking in his sleep? He put on his tuxedo.

_~Kid's Dream~_

_"I don't wanna go to daycare, momma," Kid, as a child, complained. He was no more than 5._

_"Don't worry, Kid, it'll be fun, you'll see." A woman's voice rang from somewhere._

_"But what if the other kids don't like me?"_

_"Why wouldn't they like you? I'm sure if you be nice to them, they'll be nice to you."_

_"But I don't like it here, why do you have to leave?"_

_"Because I have to do errands today, honey… How about this, when I come back, you and I can go for some ice cream."_

_"O…Okay."_

_"I love you, Kid. I always have and always will. Won't you come back to me?"_

_"Momma?"_

_"But that's right, you don't know me anymore. Don't worry, I can fix that! Just come with me."_

_"But you just said I should stay…"_

_"No, darling, you should come. Come with your momma."_

_"Don't I need to go to daycare?"_

_"No."_

_~The Present~_

After a quick breakfast of toast with jam, the trio left to school. After handing in the last of his overdue homework, class started. However, when the teacher came in, the entire class gasped.

"You were supposed to wait in the hall until I introduced you…" Stein complained. "Anyway, class, this is your new teacher assistant, Medusa. She's going through an evaluation and this is part of it, so do your best to just focus on your work as usual." _What was father thinking?! _Class began almost the same as usual. Today, they were examining the cells in a species of cacti from the desert, "quite a boring class," as Stein put it. As the class was ending, Stein pulled them aside as Medusa smiled goodbye to the students. Most looked warily at her before running off. Black Star was trying to show Crona how to safely escape through the window, but she just kept her head down and rushed past Medusa like the rest of the students.

"As I understand it," Stein began quietly. "Your dad wanted to see you, Kid. Also Maka and Soul, since they're… er… hanging out with you this afternoon." Kid nodded and headed for the Death room. Maka had been close enough to hear Stein, so he didn't need to tell her.

"You wanted to see me, Father?" Kid asked as he stepped in. Maka and Soul were right behind him. Spirit stood up from a chair off to the side and pulled something out of his pocket as Death began to speak.

"Because of the recent events, we've thought it wise to hide a tracking device on you, just in case. Since Maka's with you this afternoon, perhaps she could help you find a well hidden spot to put it." He nodded to Spirit, who gave Maka a small item that looked like a skull while trying to hold back an urge to tell her how much he loved her. She looked at it closely. It was really just a black ball with a skull pattern painted on the front.

"You can glue on anything you need to attach it," her father said. "So, if you chose to make it a bracelet, just glue the bracelet to the device."

"I don't think we should make it a bracelet, that's the first thing they would suspect," she spoke briskly. She and Soul exchanged a brief glance before looking at Kid. _They wouldn't put it in or on my shoe, that's another obvious spot… _Maka's eyes moved gradually upwards, stopping finally at his head. "I've got it," she smiled, sending a shiver down his spine. A few minutes later, they were in the dorm, Soul explaining to Blair why Kid was here and that he was _not _here to play.

"So… where are we putting it, exactly?" Kid asked, curious. Maka only grinned as she went into the bathroom.

"You'll see. Hey Soul, can you get me the glue gun?" she called. It was quickly found and given. Moments later she came out. "Turn around," she ordered. He reluctantly did so. Her hand pulled up a chunk of hair in the centre and he felt something pulling the bottom layer of hair before she dropped the chunk.

"Eh… a hair clip?" Soul asked. "His hair's kind of really round… you sure this will go un-noticed?"

"_You _look, then," she grinned, defiant and successful. He was amazed to find that when he looked, he actually couldn't tell there was anything underneath his hair.

"Wow," he muttered. However, Kid seemed to be uneasy. "Something wrong?"

"It… I think it's off to the left a bit…" he complained. He reached up and pulled the clip slightly to the right. "There," he smiled. Soul rolled his eyes and Maka pulled out a thin, red box.

"Want to play Scrabble?" she offered. The game began. Soul always took long turns as he was trying to make dinner at the same time, and Maka insisted that it was fine since she didn't want him to burn it. In the end, Maka won, as Soul always rushed his turns and Kid kept trying to make the board symmetrical. They cleaned up the game as Soul set the table. Despite what Maka thought, Kid seemed unaffected by the proportions of the mashed potatoes, compared to the corn. However, she thought she saw him rotate it slightly. Since they didn't have any homework for the day, they continued playing board games until it began to get dark out. At first, Kid opened his mouth to protest having them walk him home, but he soon realised there was no point and reluctantly stayed silent. _Poor Kid, _Maka thought as they stepped outside, h_e never wanted any of this… All he was trying to do was make sure Mosquito didn't interfere with… with my battle… _she realised that his problems could, in fact, be traced back to that. Her thoughts ended as they reached his house.

"See you tomorrow," he said, a touch of his usual dignity… not quite gone, but definitely faded.

"This feels wrong," Soul mumbled as they strolled down the driveway. "Kid, of all people, shouldn't have to be walked to any place he happens to go to."

"I definitely agree. But what more can we do?" she responded. "He wouldn't want us shadowing him; that would feel too... weird, anyway."

"That's not quite what I meant. But you're on the right track. We've got to try to do something. Give him some freedom back." For the next few minutes, the only sounds around were from the crickets.

"Maybe… maybe we could organize something for Saturday. We've got Monday off, too, if we want a camping thing or something."

"I can't see Kid camping… something about his bug bites not being symmetrical," Soul laughed.

"Well obviously camping's not our only option," Maka replied. "But maybe we could do a group mission!"

"I can see that working. We always watch each other's backs during those, anyway."

"Let's see if Death's still in the Death room," she said energetically.

"No way, Maka. Look how late it is! Asking for a mission can wait until tomorrow." Since there was really no reason they couldn't wait, she sighed and they continued inside.

"Good morning! The great ME has come to escort the low you to school!" Black Star shouted as Liz opened the door. She glared at him momentarily before turning to shout to Kid and Patty.

"No need," Kid called from the stairway. "We'd have been able to hear him even in the soundproof rooms." They began the trek to school, Black Star bragging about how he was going to surpass god, and he could almost feel the halo that would appear above his amazing head. Finally they reached the school. Seeing Soul, Black Star ran up and the two high fived.

"Did word reach you yet?" Soul asked him, knowing there was no way it could have. "We're gonna ask Death for a group mission this weekend."

"What? Why wasn't I told?! Eh, no matter. The mission will be done almost before it starts with the great ME in the group!" The rest of the morning passed without incident. After class, the group was brought to the Death room to make sure everyone agreed to the mission. It was unanimous.

"What do you suppose we should pack, Onee-chan?" Patty asked as they walked off towards Gallows mansion. They were too far for the others to hear Liz's reply.

"Hey Maka, do you think we'll need anything other than our overnight stuff?" Soul asked as the pair, plus Kid, began walking to their apartment.

"Maybe some energy bars, but nothing much. From the sounds of it, we're going to be moving a bunch," she responded.

"So water bottles, too then," he said as they crossed the street to the building. "Oh, but so after I'm done packing, I'm going to Black Star's, if that's alright."

"Sure, why not?" Maka smiled slightly. "You gonna stay there for dinner?" Soul caught the hidden message and grinned.

"Of course, why wouldn't I? I happen to know what Tsubaki's cooking tastes like."

"Maka's cooking is pretty good, too," Kid complimented.

"Thanks," she beamed. After stepping inside, Maka and Soul immediately started packing. Unsure what to do, Kid sat on the sofa. After a few moments he heard Maka claim that 'there's no _way _I'll need those kinds of clothes!' Seconds later a frowning kitty prowled out of her room. She suddenly noticed Kid on the sofa.

"Hi Kid! Did they leave you here with nothing to do?! How rude of them," she scolded behind their backs.

"I'm fine with it. I was just marvelling at how the magnets on the fridge are symmetrical! It's a feat that Liz and Patty seem to have trouble with, which is why I finally got a non-magnetic fridge." She stared at him for a moment.

"But… surely you're at least a little bored, right?" Blair hopped next to him and rubbed against his right leg, purring.

"Eh," Kid stuttered. He gently picked her up and put her on the left side. "The symmetry is off if you only do that on the right side."

"You're a weird one," she laughed, and poked her nose under his hand for a pet. "Since the others are packing, do you want to play?" Kid knew for sure he didn't want to play, even if he'd technically never actually figured out what Blair's 'playing' involved. Again, though, he was sure he didn't want to know. He was trying to figure out how to politely turn her down when Soul came out.

"See you later, Kid. And Blair, please don't scar him for life, his will probably last a lot longer than any other guest we have." The door shut before another word was spoken.

"Maka's probably close to finishing her packing, too," Kid spoke quietly.

"Nya~ I'll go check for you!" She leapt gracefully off his lap and poked her head through the door.

"Kid, no! Oh… it's just you, Blair," Maka's voice trailed from her room.

"Just me?! What do you mean, just me? And why can't Kid come in? You seem to be wearing all those clothes you say are necessary for public viewing," Blair replied, a hint of hurt in her voice. Kid merely distracted himself with the fridge.

"I-I didn't mean anything by it, Blair, I just don't want Kid in here."

"How come?" she demanded, still offended by the 'just you.' "Kid, come here!"

"But Maka said-"

"Just come!"

"Nooo!" Maka clearly did _not _want him in there.

"**Come in or I'll mess up the fridge magnets!**" Immediately he stood up. Closing his eyes, he gently pushed the door slightly further open. "What's wrong with this room?" she asked. As he was opening his eyes, however, Maka pushed him out and closed the door. He sighed slightly in relief. A scuffle was heard inside, and the door was suddenly opened, and it was evident that Blair had become human to do so. She reached out and pulled him in by the collar of his shirt, accidentally throwing him on Maka's bed, which was strewn with clothes. He quickly saw what was wrong.

"The… the room… it…"

"I'm sorry, Kid," Maka put her head in her hands. Blair still couldn't see what was wrong with the room.

"Um…. Could someone please tell me, _what's wrong with this room?!"_

"It's…. it's…" Kid started. "It's completely messed up! Nothing about it is symmetrical anymore, not even the floor!" Blair looked disappointed. Kid started to pick up shirts and other assorted clothing pieces from the floor while Maka quickly snatched the last few things she thought she'd need. He dumped them on the bed and started folding them. Blair looked around, bored, and left the room, deciding cleaning wasn't really her thing.

"Sorry about that. I should have known you wouldn't just come barging in," Maka said as she closed the small suitcase.

"It's fine," he replied. "This is a bit of an overreaction for her, though. In any case, I'll know that I helped to make this room symmet- er… clean. Where do your shirts go?" She pointed to a dresser beside the window and he pulled out a drawer.

"Right above that one," she chimed as she began putting away her 'less public clothes.' He placed the shirts in, coming back with skirts for the drawer he'd originally pulled out. Finally everything was put away, the room once again neat and tidy. "Shall we?" she opened the door. It was out of character, but Kid didn't seem to notice, as all he did was smile slightly and walk through. There was a quick discussion on what they should do, but they both agreed they didn't want to stay inside again.

"I could teach you some more basketball tips," Kid offered. "You could practice shooting when someone's in front of you."

_Hello, Kid._ He almost jumped. _What the hell?_

"Sure," Maka agreed and unlocked the front door. They walked out. Evidently Maka hadn't heard the voice.

_Do you miss me? _the voice asked. It was female. Not Noah or Gopher. Who else had he recently been around? He tried to keep his expression neutral as they walked downstairs. Maka didn't say anything, so he didn't either.

_Who are you?_ he thought back at the voice.

_I'm hurt… Little Kiddo doesn't remember me… But then, that was to be expected. _He tried to understand what she might mean by that. Little Kiddo… his father used to call him that. But this couldn't be his mom, he didn't have one. He recalled his father's words from years ago, when he had asked. _Well, Kiddo… How do I word this…? In order for you to be made, I split a part of my soul off. _He hadn't said anything else for a while, so Kid had just left.

_Go away, _he said. He pushed all thoughts of the voice out of his head as they reached the court. Maka put down a book she seemed to have gotten from nowhere. It explained why she hadn't been talking. They practiced basketball for a while, and after getting two shots in a row, Maka was finally beginning to like the sport. They headed back to Gallows mansion as the time went by. Kid opened the door and, stepping in, heard something weird, right behind him. It was so close he would have sworn he should have felt it on the back of his head. _The chip, _he realised. It was telling his father that he was home. Patty stumbled out from her room just then and knocked on Liz's door down the hall.

"Dinnertime," she chirped, even though it appeared she'd just woken up. She turned to the stairs after hearing Liz wake up. "Oh, Kid! You're home for dinner!"

"Yeah," he grinned. Perhaps things wouldn't be normal for a while, but he could at least enjoy things like dinner with them.

"So what'd you pack?" Soul asked, chewing a piece of chicken.

"Y'know, spare gloves, an extra outfit or two, the usual camp stuff. Though with the great ME around, I doubt we'll need to stay that long! Hah-HAH!" Luckily Black Star didn't have enough food in his mouth for much of a mess to have been made. Tsubaki put her hand on his arm to let him know not to talk while eating, though. He swallowed. "How 'bout you?"

"Eh, same old. Blade cleaner, extra clothes. Maka seemed certain that she had to have the perfect clothes for whatever weather we might have, so I wouldn't be surprised if Kid ends up being attacked by Blair while he waits. She was already sitting on him when I left, and looked pretty uncomfortable. Maybe I should have helped him…" he trailed off. "Nah, Kid oughtta fend for himself." He stuffed some rice in his mouth.

"I wooden be shuprished if he couldn'," Black Star said, his mouth full. "Shnot like he'sh ash aweshum ash ME!"

"Black Star!" Tsubaki scolded. She quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped the table where food had fallen. Black Star fell silent and swallowed once more.

"Be right back," he got up and headed to the bathroom.

"So what'd you pack, Tsubaki?"

"Two extra outfits, some energy bars and a couple water bottles. I also got sunscreen since we're in the middle of a desert and all." Soul's eyes widened. He'd forgotten sunscreen.

"Smart," he complimented, eyes narrowing to their normal size again. "I-I like the food," he changed the subject. _Wait, that's the exact same thing you said last time! Lame._

"Thanks," she beamed. "I'm glad you like it."

"Yeah… I could never make something this awesome. Usually when I try, it fails so horribly that Maka and I end up having to eat microwave noodles."

"Well… If you want, I could teach you," she offered. "We'd start off easy, of course, but I'll bet within a month at most you'd be able to make something like this, easy."

"That would be awesome!" he grinned. _Score! I wonder if these 'lessons' will count as dates or something._

"What would be awesome? I don't know of many things… except ME, of course!" Black Star returned from the bathroom.

"Tsubaki was offering to teach me to cook like this," Soul explained. Black Star's face squished up slightly.

"You're learning to cook?"

"Well I _know _how to cook. I'm learning how to cook complicated stuff."

"So… I repeat: you're learning to cook?" Soul face palmed.

"Yeah, you could say that," he muttered. Dinner ended and all three of them helped with dishes.

"Lesson one," Black Star mocked. "Dishes. Soul, you can wash."

"What? Why me?"

"Cause you're the one taking the lesson!"

"I can do it," Tsubaki intervened. "I like washing anyway." After the dishes were finished, they decided to go for a walk.

"…And then FWOOSH! His soul was mine before he had time to blink!" Black Star finished his version of their last successful mission. For once, it wasn't too long ago.

"Doesn't Tsubaki get the souls? How could his soul be yours?" Soul poked him in the side.

"It's a figure of speech," he shooed his finger away. Tsubaki only laughed; a change from her usual quiet giggle. The boys raised eyebrows, but as she was behind them, she didn't notice the unusualness.

"So how many souls does that put you at now?"

"Uh…. I believe…. 17!" He spoke with confidence.

"It's 22," Tsubaki corrected.

"Right you are!" Black Star spoke loud despite just being told he was wrong. "So how's your Death Scythe training going, Soul?"

"Eh, pretty good. We're trying to break our record for fastest lift off. It's not going too great."

"Don't worry, man. I'll have Tsubaki made into a Death Scythe in a jiffy, and then I can show you how!"

"I didn't think you _had _a scythe mode," he spoke to Tsubaki.

"I don't. Though perhaps I'll get one when I'm a Death Scythe," she gazed dreamily at the sky. She seemed to frown at something, causing the boys to look, too.

"What's wrong with the sky?" Soul wondered.

"Looks find to me."

"Just a moment ago…" Tsubaki trailed off. She began again. "Just a little while ago, there was something. Flying really, really fast."

"Maybe it was a witch," Soul joked.

"Hah! If it was, she'd better watch out for the great ME!" Black Star laughed.

"Let's go find it!"

"Yeah! Tsubaki, which way was it going?" Knowing she wouldn't be able to convince them not to look, she pointed vaguely in the direction it had been going. They were off like rockets. Soon, they saw smoke in the direction they were headed.

"Maybe that's her!" Soul jumped to the conclusion. They pushed themselves forward. Soon they were on the outskirts of the city, the smoke coming from something out in the desert. It was reasonably close, but not quite close enough to see, so they rushed forward once more. Finally they arrived at the edge of a hole from which smoke poured out. They saw in the centre, a figure laid prone. Around the figure was a circle that glowed blue.

"Let's go closer," Black Star urged. They hopped down and crept towards the circle, which seemed to glow brighter with every step they took. They were only a few feet away when the figure seemed to twitch.

"Y-you… Leave me be…" It demanded in a gravelly voice.

"Do you think it's a witch?" Soul whispered.

"I dunno… Don't witches need something to fly on, like a broom? I don't see one around," Black Star whispered back, quiet for once in his life.

"Leave," the voice persisted.

"What are you?" Soul asked. The… the thing shuddered and the trio jolted forward a centimetre. It… was it hurt? They continued forward slowly, the circle around it glowing fiercely. They hesitated at the edge, but with one glance at each other, they dared to step inside. The last thing they heard was a cackling laughter before they fell down, unable to move even a finger. While all they could see was the dirt and stones before them, they could hear the crunch of this beneath the being as it stood up.

"Step one, check. The circle works." It walked over and Soul heard Tsubaki whimper slightly. _Damn, I should be able to help her! _However, he couldn't even transform his arm into a scythe to fight off this… this thing. He heard a dull thud.

"Tsubaki, you okay?" Black Star sounded genuinely concerned. Soul let out an involuntary grunt as something roughly grabbed his hair and pulled his head up.

"Yeah," he heard the reply from Tsubaki. He looked at the face of whatever was looking at him, but only saw shadows. He was dropped just as suddenly and let out another grunt.

"Incoming, Black Star," he muttered. He didn't hear anything but the sliding of rocks to show that Black Star, too, was being mysteriously examined.

"Ah, well. She didn't expect he'd be dumb enough to investigate anyway," the voice muttered. She swept some dirt away, which would have revealed a broom, had they been able to move their necks to see. The circle vanished quite suddenly, along with the strange being. The three quickly stood up.

"What _was _that thing?" Soul grumbled.

"I don't know, but nobody plays a trap on the great BLACK STAR and gets away with it! We _shall _meet again!"

"What was it looking for, anyway?" Tsubaki wondered aloud.

"Evidently not us." Soul brushed some soil out of his hair. "Let's go back and ask about that whole circle thing." It was pretty late, but on the way back they caught sight of Maka and Kid on his board. They slowed at the sight of the trio.

"Hey guys, what hit you? You look like you had a fight with a tornado and lost," Maka giggled. Soul looked at them. Their clothes were dirt-stained and sweat-stained from the investigation.

"Close, but no cigar. It was a mere circle. And, of course, some creepy witch," Soul said casually.

"You met a witch?" Kid raised an eyebrow, before realising that it would ruin part of his symmetry and he lowered it.

"She ran away, obviously. Nobody can face the great ME and stand tall!"

"Eh… that's not really how it happened," Tsubaki reminded him.

"So what _did_ happen?" Maka urged.

"Well, Tsubaki saw her flying in the sky," Soul began.

"And then I decided this was the perfect moment to get a witch soul for her!" Black Star interrupted.

"So we ran after her," Soul tried to continue.

"And then a little outside the city there was this big hole with smoke coming from it!"

"So we went into the hole and we saw this weird circle."

"And inside it was the witch! Shuddering in fear of the great ME!"

"But there was no broom or anything, so we didn't know she was a witch, just something that looked hurt."

"So I challenged the circle that was trapping the poor being inside!"

"Uh… I wouldn't say we challenged it. More of tried to step inside to help the… thing."

"Uh… no offence, you two…" Maka began. "But I think Tsubaki can tell the rest of the story." Which she did. She started from when they entered the circle, providing details the boys had missed.

"So wait, she only said two things to you other than to leave?" Kid questioned.

"I think asking us to leave was just to get our attention," Tsubaki said glumly, as they'd clearly fallen for it.

"Step one, check. The circle works," Kid muttered.

"Yes. As well as, 'Ah well, she didn't think he'd be dumb enough to investigate anyway,'" she quoted.

"I think we should alert my father about this. It sounds like this was just a test run for something."

"Agreed," Maka said. Kid quickly set up his personal Death Mirror right there on the sidewalk.

"Hello Kid! Is something the matter?" his father quickly answered.

"It seems so. Tsubaki?" She quickly told Death of the events from the past hour or so.

"Hmm," he thought for a while. "We'll send a team to investigate the hole, and have someone on the lookout for any more witches." He nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Well, goodnight you guys! Sleep well!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you able to tell us which witch was here last night? And what sort of spell managed to prevent the movement of three of our best students?" Stein asked Medusa as they arrived that morning.

"Not which witch, unfortunately, but I can tell you she was a powerful one. The kind of spell she used was similar to Arachne's when she froze Maka in spider strings; however this one waits for the prey to walk into the trap, before setting up a field that prevents muscle movement and weapon transformation."

"Hmm. You mark that down?" he looked towards a man with a clipboard, who nodded back. "This is both good news and bad news… mostly bad news."

"Are you going to elaborate?" she asked with a coy smile.

"Her referral to another woman suggests she works for someone even more powerful; however, testing a trap object shows that she wishes not to attack directly. This would normally mean that we would be safe, as long as we didn't enter any mysterious circles, but…"

"But with the power of a witch, it really only shows that she's confident she can catch her prey as easily with a trap than with an attack, if not easier," Medusa finished for him.

"Is there anything else you can tell me? Or perhaps some magic that would aid us in catching this witch?"

"Hmm… There's nothing I can do but place a snake here in case she comes back, which, if she's as smart as we think, she won't."

"I see," he muttered. He called to one of the men standing more towards the centre of the hole. "Did you find what caused the smoke?"

"Oh, come now, any witch could make smoke appear easily, and leave no trace," she teased. The man in the hole couldn't find anything, much to her satisfaction. He looked at her with a strange grin on his face. He seemed to want to say something, but also knew he had to stay professional. Nothing needed to be said though.

"So, back to the words that she said…" Stein changed the subject. "'Step one, check. The circle works.'"

"That part's obvious. She was testing some new magic on the kids. It worked."

"And, 'Ah well, she didn't think he'd be dumb enough to investigate anyway?'"

"Hmm. If this was a test run, she's planning on getting someone who's male and smarter than 'three of your best students.'"

"Normally I'd say Kid… but the ones after Kid are both male, and as far as I know, don't work for a higher up female."

"Mmm, and I suppose he would have known too, if there was a female boss. He was there long enough. Still, do you suppose it's safe to let him go on this new mission? What if this _was _an attack preparing for Kid?" Stein realised this and the duo rushed back to find the kids, to at least delay them until Death could give his input. On their way back, an airplane roared above them. They decided to stop there first.

"Sorry, sir, but if you missed your flight you'll have to wait another hour or so," the attendant told him before he'd even said anything.

"On that flight, was there a group of Shibusen kids?" Medusa barked.

"Uh, maybe, there were lots of kids," he muttered. "You got names?" He gave them a sign-in list. As their eyes scrolled down the list, their shoulders sank in defeat.

"We were too late," Stein sighed. All of the names had been written as on board.

"Maybe we can catch them before anything happens," she suggested hopefully. "My broom's pretty fast, still."

"Yeah," he looked up with renewed strength. "Let's go."

Kid woke up in a sweat, with Liz and Patty worrying over him. "Are you okay?" Liz demanded. "What were you dreaming of?"

"I… I don't... It's probably nothing. Let's go get ready for the mission." He stood up and went towards his dresser as a sign for them to leave. Patty looked really worried… He'd caused them all so much worry. There wasn't anything he could even do about it. They stalked off, Liz muttering something about Kid talking in his sleep. He went into the bathroom to wash his face. He didn't want to tell them about the dream. That would only worry them more, and after all, it was just a dream.

_~Kid's mind, hours ago~_

_"Momma, momma, look! I drew you a picture today!" Kid, again, no older than 5, stood at a daycare entrance, showing a piece of paper to an unseen figure._

_"That's wonderful, honey. It looks beautiful!" He beamed. It was a picture of their house, Gallows Mansion. "Listen, how about we go for some ice cream? Your papa's working late again today, so we can get three scoops!" He laughed. Everything was great. They walked for an unknown period of time._

_"Momma, what's your most favourite colour in the whole wide world?" _

_"Ooh, that's a tough one! Hmm, if I really had to think, I'd say... White!"_

_"Why white, momma?"_

_"Because it reminds me of you, and your cute little stripes." Kid giggled his little kid giggle. "Cute little stripes. Cute little stripes. You know, now that I look at you, you aren't that cute anymore."_

_"M-momma?" _

_"The one thing you used to love the most, now hated by an obsession you shouldn't have had."_

_"I'm scared, momma. Where's daddy?"_

_"What went wrong with you, child? What went wrong?"_

_"Where's daddy?" his cry grew louder._

_"I told you, he's at school. Maybe he's the reason you became so messed up. Teaching you to hate me. Turning you against me."_

_"I want to go home," he wailed._

_"I can help you though," the unseen figure said. Kid sniffled. "Come back to me, and I can help you to remember what's right."_

_"But what about papa? What about daddy?"_

_"He doesn't love you like I do. If he did, you wouldn't have fallen so low. Now come, Kid."_

_The child sniffled once more before grabbing the ice cream the figure held out to him._

_"Will I get to see him again?"_

_"No."_

_~To the present~_

_I don't have a mother. _"Let's go," Kid said after the breakfast dishes had been cleaned. They met the others at the court, where they said they would, before setting out. The mission probably wouldn't be very difficult, but it required all of them. They took the 8:45 plane to a mysterious jungle. There they arrived in a town of about 500 people. After leaving their luggage at the hotel they were staying in, they looked around.

"So, basically we're trying to find any evidence that there's a witch living here. We should be okay since there're 7 of us, so let's try not to split up much, okay?" Maka spoke as began to walk. They strolled to the centre of the square, but even Maka couldn't detect a witch soul.

"Of course, she's probably using Soul Protect," Soul muttered. "Just how are we supposed to weed out a witch amongst these people?"

"What are the main characteristics of a witch?" Kid asked.

"They're like people with magic, so varied that magic's basically the only thing that makes them like one another," Liz grumbled.

"Except, they're almost all affected by the sway of violence," Maka pitched in.

"So, we basically find the most violent people in town?" Black Star asked. "Easy! I'll just do my big entrance scene, and-"

"I don't think that they'd be the most violent in town. Witches can control their violence, to a point, so they wouldn't be that obvious about it," Tsubaki interrupted.

"So… Anybody got any ideas?" Liz asked. The group was silent for a while.

"Let's just ask about witches," Black Star grumbled, impatient.

"What would that accomplish?" Kid replied. "Most people would be confused and the witch would most definitely pretend to be a normal human if we asked."

"So we ask one or two people to see if she's known as a witch," he retorted. Soul walked a few feet away to ask a random pedestrian. He came back frowning.

"I think she thought I was a friend of the witch. But I think there are rumors of her, at least."

"It's cause you put on such a creepy face," Maka teased. "Here, let me try." She walked down in a different direction and started talking to a man who was buying apples from a street vendor. She came back smiling. "He didn't quite give me an exact address, but she lives in 'that creepy house by the edge of the town,'" she quoted with fingers. They were off once more, quickly finding the building they were searching for.

"Definitely creepy," Liz said. "How about some of us just stay here, you know, in case something happens? Patty, you're with me, right?" She laughed in response.

"You're so silly!" With that she grabbed her sister's wrist and they were the first down the driveway, Liz protesting the whole time. They entered the house and looked around.

"Well, looks normal, guess we gotta try again, let's go! Better luck next time," Liz said nervously.

"Liz, Patty, we'll check the basement. Black Star and Tsubaki, you search the main floor. Maka and Soul, you've got the top floor," Kid ordered. He started searching until he found the door that led to the stairs.

"Ooh, why did we have to have the basement?" Liz complained. "The main floor looked much less creepy!" There were cobwebs all along the way down. Finding no light, the girls pulled out flashlights. The main section of the basement seemed normal enough, but Kid spoke up.

"The sizing is off…"

"Kid, just because they don't build their house symmetrically doesn't mean we have to stand around wishing they did. Let's go."

"That's not it. From the front you can easily see how wide this room should be, but it's at least 6 feet too small." He walked up and started pressing stones of the wall. _Down a little, now to the left, _the voice… it was back.

_ I thought I made it clear to you, leave my mind. _

_Oh, I'm not really in your mind, Kid, just speaking to you through it. _He pushed the brick down and to the left of where he was pressing, and it moved forward slightly. Suddenly the section of the wall swung inward, revealing a room full of magic symbols and papers. He picked up what appeared to be a journal. On the front it read, _To Kid._

"Someone knew you were coming?" Liz read over his shoulder. "Maybe your dad left it."

"Hee hee! This symbol looks like a birdy!" Patty pointed to the wall, which was tacked with various sheets of information and symbols. Liz went over and smiled, going along with it. Kid opened the book, slightly nervous.

_This book belongs to Varia Emelia Perenci. _The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. He flipped a few pages in.

_Today Kid drew a picture of us all standing in a meadow. He's finally started drawing grass green instead of blue! I'm so happy; it's moments like these that help me forget what I truly am inside. _

Kid flipped forward a bunch, impatient.

_He found the room today, and asked a bunch of questions. I just know he suspects. I need to flee, but I don't want to leave Kid. He's just as much my child as he is his, and after all, I've been raising him this whole time while all he did was work at the school. I can't leave him… so I'll just bring him with me. He'll be okay… he never had much of a relationship with his father anyway. I wonder if this is the right thing to do. But surely if he knew I was a witch, he would kill me. No, taking Kid is my only choice. I can treat him better than anyone ever could. We can still get ice cream on Fridays; he can still go to daycare. I even know of a spell that would hide his stripes. It wears off after a week, but it's nothing compared to what awaits me here._

_ We've arrived in our new home. Kid continues to ask about his father, but I refuse to alter his memories so that he stops. I would never harm Kid. I even made another 'sway' room, for when I feel compelled by the sway of violence. It's almost just like before… But without Death. Death, the number one enemy of the witches, and my love. I miss him so much, but I have no doubt that that is the last feeling he's feeling towards me right now. After all, I took his son. I remember all those times together now, and think surely, he wouldn't really kill me. But I'm a witch, and nothing can change that. I remember the day I met him, I even saved him from my own sister. Of course, he didn't know I was a witch then. That was the last time, I think, that he'd ever been close to losing. Now he has Spirit, so I don't think he'll ever be that close to a loss again._

Kid flipped forward to the last couple pages.

_They took him. I don't know how they found me, but I was cooking our dinner when they burst through the door, Spirit and Kami. I couldn't do anything in front of Kid, I didn't want to hurt him. The battle was over before it began. Of course, the moment Kami stepped out with Kid, I attacked Spirit, but he's a death scythe, and Kami quickly returned. I used a spell I had vowed never to use, and sealed off Kid's memories of his father. If Death wanted Kid to remember him, he would have to agree to let me live and be with him. Kami told me to come; she didn't wish to fight me. But I know what they wanted. Death probably had a few words to say before my inevitable death. I fled. I only realised just moments ago, that I had made a counter so I wouldn't use the spell… I've done a terrible thing. I made my own son forget me. But perhaps it is for the better. He won't miss me, this way. But, one day, I hope he remembers. We can be together once more, perhaps._

He looked up after the last entry. Liz and Patty were being awful quiet… He turned. Where… where did they go?

"Kid," a voice said, sounding quite pathetic. He turned towards a woman stepping out of the shadows. She was beautiful, with flowing black hair tossed over her shoulder. "I… I'm sorry."

"I… I don't… I can't have a mother," he stammered.

"But you do, Kid. I'm your mother. That's my old journal. My name is Varia Emelia Perenci."

"Freeze," a gruff voice suddenly said. She tensed up, feeling a hand on her back. Medusa appeared in front of her.

"My, my, it seems _everyone_ is after Kid, these days." She balanced on her arrow tail, getting a good look at the blue-eyed woman.

"No," Varia smiled sadly. "I'm actually surrendering to Shibusen. You see, I'm the witch that Kid and the others were trying to track down. If Death wants to kill me, so be it. I can't live another day without being with my son again."

"If you really sealed my memories, why can't you just give them back?" Kid asked.

"I have to be within close proximity, so I haven't been able to for a long time. But now," she smiled, and it all came flashing back.

_~Years ago~_

_ "Whee! Momma, push me higher!" Kid sat on a swing, his mother behind him._

_ "Okay, but only if you hold on really tight!" She gave him a big push._

_ "Mommy, look! A puppy!" _

_ "I see! And look, it looks like her mother's over there!" _

_ "Can I pet her?"_

_ "No, Kid, the momma might not want that. Can you imagine if I allowed a stranger to pat you on the head? You'd feel awful silly." _

_ "Well, okay. But oh, maybe we can get one of our own!"_

_ "Momma, I'm sorry…"_

_ "What happened, Kid? What's wrong?"_

_ "I lost the ball you gave me."_

_ "How did that happen?" _

_ "I was playing at the park and throwing it with Matt and it went into the trees."_

_ "Don't worry, hun, we can go look for it after lunch. Do you want jelly or honey today?" Kid giggled._

_ "Jelly, jelly, jelly!"_

_ "Mommy, can you remove my memories of daddy?"_

_ "What? W-Why would you ask me such a thing?"_

_ "It's been a long time now, he isn't coming. He abandoned us." Varia bent down and hugged her son._

_ "Darling, your father would __**never **__abandon you. Trust me, Kid, you'll see him again."_

_~The present~_

"M-Mother…" Varia smiled.

"Let's go home, Kid. I'll see your father one last time before my death. He may hate me, but I still love both him and you, with all my heart."

"But, wait, where are Liz and Patty?"

"Forgive me for this, but I had to talk one last time with you before we left. They're in the main portion of the basement." Varia stayed with Stein while Medusa followed Kid out into the main part of the basement.

"Liz? Patty?" Kid looked, but they didn't appear to be there. He came back and asked about this.

"The spell shouldn't have worn off that fast," she seemed worried. "I suppose they might have regained their transformative powers faster than a normal human, though, and once transforming the spell would wear off completely. Perhaps they went upstairs."

"In any case, are you guys going to stay the night?" Stein asked. "You already made reservations at the hotel, and it's gotten pretty late anyway. We don't have transportation for you."

"Yeah, we'll go back to the hotel. See you tomorrow," Kid waved before they went upstairs. He examined the room one last time before pocketing the journal and leaving. "Liz? Patty? Where'd you go?" he muttered. They definitely weren't in the basement. He began to walk up the steps to the main floor. He saw his friends standing in a kitchen of some sort. As he reached the last few steps, the door closed quickly and quietly, leaving him in total darkness. "What the…" He reached for the knob, but it wouldn't turn. "_Liz! Patty!" _Didn't they hear him? Why weren't they coming?

"Sorry Kid, but that's not how you're gonna be leaving," a voice echoed from the darkness. He stayed quiet; silently making his way down the stairs since staying at the top only made him an easy target in this darkness. Soon he reached the bottom. "Why so quiet? Don't you recognize my voice?" He did, and it didn't make him feel any better. The voice was right in front of him, so he felt beside him where the wall was, judging if the gap was enough for him to scrape by and hide in the secret room. He began to slowly move, inch… by inch… by inch. Suddenly something hard smashed into his head and he grunted, falling down. "You won't be getting away that easily." Suddenly there was a flash of light. Kid squinted against the sudden brightness as he stood up. He immediately aimed a kick, but his opponent only grabbed his leg. As he was preparing for a punch that would give him his leg back, another unseen person grabbed his other leg and pulled, sending him crashing to the ground. "Did you think Noah-sama would have me get you by myself?" Gopher's voice chilled Kid to the bone. He lashed out with his fist as Noah –or was it Gopher? - pressed his shoulders down. He was satisfied as he felt it meet flesh. The person holding his shoulders down lessened their grip and he shoved them off, and then tried to stand up. However, he couldn't, as Noah had somehow managed to bind his feet together during the fight.

"**_LIZ! PATTY! ANYBODY! GET DOWN HERE!_**" he yelled, and soon he heard the door above being struggled with.

"Come on, we have about 3 minutes before they get their witch friend to break that lock," Noah said. He pulled out a piece of paper. Hearing this, Kid rolled away as fast as possible.

~Minutes before~

"Patty, transform, it undoes whatever that spell was." She quickly did so, and the duo was about to enter the room when they heard a woman talking.

"I… I'm sorry."

"I… I don't… I can't have a mother," Kid stammered in response.

"I don't think she's going to hurt Kid," Liz whispered. "Maybe we should just give them a bit of time." Patty nodded in response, and they went upstairs to the kitchen. A few minutes later, the woman from earlier came out, Stein behind her, Medusa tailing him. Stein and the woman left immediately, as she was a highly wanted person back at Shibusen. Soul and Maka walked in then and saw Medusa.

"You've really changed?" Maka asked. They were chatting at a normal tone, so normally they would have heard the door closing suddenly, but just then Black Star and Tsubaki came in.

"Ha-HA! The great ME has arrived! I'm sure you've all missed me terribly!"

"I'm not so sure," Tsubaki said quietly.

"Did you guys hear something just now?" Maka questioned.

"Nope. You sure you haven't been spending too much time reading again?" Soul teased.

"I'm sure… Where's Kid?"

"He was just taking a bit of time for himself before coming up… He should be up any minute," Medusa noted. She furrowed her brow in confusion when she saw the door was closed. "That's odd. I don't remember closing it. The lights don't work down there, and I didn't want to leave Kid in the dark." Maka reached over and tried the knob, but it wouldn't open. Medusa tried, too, and then gasped. "It's been locked with magic. Suddenly they heard a yell from below.

"**_LIZ! PATTY! ANYBODY! GET DOWN HERE!_**" Medusa quickly destroyed the lock, and Maka rushed past her, Soul already a scythe. The others were quick to follow.

"Vector arrow!" Kid was flung away just as he was about to be sucked into a page of a book. His ankles had been wrapped in a magic gel, preventing his movement. She ran over and set to work in unbinding them, but these were not as easy as the lock. Liz guarded her using Patty.

"Another witch?" Noah seemed surprised. Suddenly a scythe ran through his stomach, dividing him neatly in half. However, it did no good, as he was already half into a page. Gopher was doing the same thing, and his arm had already been 'removed' by Tsubaki. One last page fluttered to the ground by Medusa, and she only had time to look and use one last spell before it activated. An array of arrows quickly surrounded the entire room and then tightened, bringing everyone closer. The paper activated. Medusa grabbed Kid, hoping the others would catch on. Maka, still holding Soul, grabbed Medusa's arm. Black Star grabbed Maka's pigtail, much to her annoyance. Liz grabbed her other pigtail, seeing nothing else to grab. Within moments they were all sucked in.


	6. Chapter 6

"My, my… Looks like we've got more than we bargained for, Gopher," Noah's voice echoed in a dim hall. Medusa quickly stood up, prepared to fight, but realised they were encased in a magic box.

_Medusa, it's me, Varia._

"Vector arrow," she sneered, and Noah was forced into the screen of the box. The others stood up, other than Kid, who still had his ankles bound. Noah got up and brushed off his pants.

_Is the tracking device still working? We're in a bad situation here, _she responded. When they'd taken her into custody, Varia and Medusa had used magic so they could stay in contact in a separation situation. It was the same kind of magic Varia had used on Kid to talk to him years after he'd forgotten her.

"I suppose I could think of a reason to keep them. It'd be a waste to throw them away. Let's see," Noah seemed unaffected by Medusa's trick. She set to working on Kid's ankles, as the box's magic was only intensifying. "Hmm, this one we wanted earlier anyway, didn't we?" he asked Gopher, pointing at Maka, who was glaring furiously at him. Black Star, meanwhile, was listening as Tsubaki whispered to him not to do anything dumb yet.

_We're on our way. Try to stall for time; Stein thinks he'll likely put you in the book soon. Luckily he doesn't put Kid in, but it's best to not have you in there at all._

"Yes, Noah-sama! The weapon she's holding is a death scythe, too," Gopher replied like a puppy with speech abilities. Kid wasn't so sure he wasn't. Finally his ankles were free, and he nodded his thanks to Medusa.

"Hmm… this one's got powerful magic, but I don't know if that's enough for me to really want her in my collection…" he sighed. He was flung back into a wall again by a vector arrow, causing Maka to giggle. Even Black Star grinned.

"Medusa," Maka spoke quietly, "is there any chance we can get out of this box?"

"It's a slim one, but yes." She raised her volume and spoke to Noah. "Do you really have to keep _all _of us? Surely, some could simply leave."

"Ah, but it's not that simple. If I let you go here, you know the whereabouts of our hideout, but if I send Gopher to bring you back, it'll take forever since there's so many of you."

"And you need to have an excuse to keep us other than that?" she poked on.

"Yes, or I can't put you in the book. Putting something that doesn't belong in is just wrong."

_I think we`re okay. He doesn`t seem to think we`re worth putting in the book._

_ Good. We had to do a quick run back to pick up Spirit, but we`re going at top speed. We`ll be there in a couple minutes._ Suddenly a thin wall divided the box. Kid, Medusa, Liz and Patty were on one side. Black Star, Tsubaki, Maka and Soul were on the other. Medusa knew immediately what he was doing.

"Stay together!" she barked. She grabbed Liz's left arm and Kid's right. Patty was still a gun. Maka bent over Black Star, who was sitting with Tsubaki hovering over him. She placed the staff end of Soul next to Tsubaki, who grabbed it. A line of thin magic came from the centre of each section, threatening to divide their space once more. "This is really making me wish I'd taken special magic in class," Medusa muttered.

"Now, do you really have to be difficult about this?" Noah complained with a grin on his face. "There's no reason for it, you know."

"I can think of a few," Liz muttered.

_How close are you, Varia? He's trying to separate us._

_ I wish I could tell you good news, but the hideout is pretty far away. It's all the way up in Canada, and even the best broom would take a while getting there. _Coils of magic sprouted from the ground.

"Geez, how much magic can this guy control at once?" Liz asked.

"Liz, remember, this guy took out Mosquito in less than half a minute," Kid reminded her. The coils tried to wrap around their legs, but were blocked by vector arrows.

"Let's see how well you can multitask," Noah kept his grin. Coils grew at a much faster pace now, most focusing on getting to any possible limb or weapon chink. It was almost too much for Medusa, and just when she thought she had it under control she felt something at one of her ankles. She quickly severed the coil, but it had cost her a precious half second in which she couldn't fully protect everyone.

"No!" Maka screamed as they overtook Soul's handle. She tried to twirl him around, to shake them off, but the next thing she knew they were pulling her pigtails, distracting her attention away. She lost her grip on Soul and the two were separated. Black Star quickly grabbed Soul, keeping him in place, but lost Maka in the process. She was soon in her own box.

"One down, seven to go," Gopher chimed. The coils stopped for a few minutes, allowing everyone some rest. The box holding Maka was lifted and brought to a separate room so that Medusa couldn't protect her anymore. While Noah was binding Maka, Medusa covered Liz and Kid in vector arrow armor. She was just finishing Black Star's when Noah came back.

"Hmm, it seems it'll be much harder from here on out…" He suddenly seemed inspired by an idea and brought Black Star's box out of the room.

"Damnit," Medusa banged her fist against the wall of the box.

_Do you have any idea of how close you are, yet?! _

_ I'm sorry to say we're only about halfway. We're flying as fast as we can, trust me. Death is checking any outgoing flights on our way over just in case a commercial airline is headed where we are within the next couple minutes. We aren't too hopeful about that option though._

_ Right, well the situation is going from bad to worse. Keep up your speed. If you need to, I'll send some magic to keep the broom fueled. This guy's more powerful than I am, but I think with all the magic he's using right now you might be able to take him by the time you get here. _She covered herself in the armor after realising she'd missed herself. Noah soon returned.

"That was much easier. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner," he was laughing. Kid glared.

"Medusa, how does this armor help us?" Liz asked, looking down at herself.

"It'll automatically attack anything that tries to touch you, and it's also tightening the connection between you and Kid." A coil grew from the ground. Medusa flattened it like a child annoyed at a bug. "There's no point in trying to separate _us_," she growled. "Each time someone leaves, I have more magic to use for the rest of us. I can use my undivided attention for this box alone now." She wrapped a few extra arrows around the links between their arms, just in case.

"Yes, but you seem to be missing something," Noah replied. An extremely large coil grew behind her, and she destroyed it without looking.

"No, I know that the weak link is the weapon. My magic can't surround her as it's naturally designed to harm demon weapons. Which is why you won't be able to make me turn from her." Patty had been eerily silent this whole time.

"Patty, don't transform back," Kid said, seeming to read her mind. "That's what he wants you to do, as then it'll be a race to see if Medusa can cover you before his coils surround you."

"Of course, I would win," Noah grinned. "My powers are better than hers. Which is why it doesn't really matter to me whether or not you have your silly armour." The box began to shrink slightly, as he gathered magic for an attack. "All it takes is one little break of concentration, and you'll be vulnerable." It continued shrinking, and it was evident that it was no longer for the magic stock up. Soon the box was pushing them together, it was so small.

"Should have taken special magic," Medusa muttered. _How close now?_

_ Almost there. We're pinpointing the exact location based off your magic and the device on Kid. Should be there relatively soon. How's Kid?_

_ Eh, he's… fine. Just hurry up. The situation is going from worse to worse than one would think possible. _

_ You don't sound like you're battling…_

_ No, he's separating us. I've lost everyone else other than Kid and the girls. But I'm afraid he's about to get them, too. _The box tightened one last time, leaving them in an unmoving position. A coil grew directly above Medusa.

"Let's see… what should we distract you with?" The coil lowered lazily towards her face, the only exposed part of her. She closed masks over the others and herself, but it was too late, the coil was in a gap between the arrows, it was going for her, it was inside, inside and she couldn't stop it, it was trying to suffocate her, and she couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything, and it was trying to find cracks in the armor and… She blacked out.

It was all over the moment the coil got in. Everything went dark, of course, but it was only about a minute before the arrows all loosened, and the coils wriggled through them like they were spaghetti noodles. The box melted away and Noah stepped forward, triumphant. Suddenly he looked as though he was being electrocuted, but the look stopped and he crumpled to the floor.

"Rule number one," Varia stepped in boldly. "Don't let your guard down after taking my son." Kid quickly equipped Patty and Liz, who transformed quickly. As Gopher began to step in to help Noah, he shot a few quick bursts to let him know that _he _was his opponent. He darted back a bit, Gopher following. He quickly entered the room where they'd taken Black Star and saw him with bindings much like the ones that had been on his ankles only minutes before.

"The magic's weaker, try to break them!" he urged to him, though Black Star was already doing so. Still, this new statement convinced him to work harder. Kid kept shooting at Gopher, who merely dodged them. Occasionally he shot his stomach cannon, but Kid always jumped aside and it hit the wall. However, this was Kid's plan. Maka was in the next room over. Finally Black Star broke his bonds and drove his soul wavelength into him. Not seeing it coming, Gopher couldn't prepare himself for the blow. He was blasted against the wall, preventing him from dodging Kid's Death Cannon. The wall between the two rooms was destroyed, and even though she couldn't move her wrists apart, Maka was wielding Soul. She drove the blade right through him.

Back in the main hall, Varia, Stein and Spirit were battling Noah. It was clear that Varia alone was more powerful, and battling a death scythe as well was proving too much. He darted quickly to Medusa, who'd been overcome by his coils. His hand held her throat.

"Not another step," he threatened. Stein attempted to keep his face clear of emotion, but truth be told, he'd found himself… loving her. And that was a feeling he didn't want to lose so soon. Suddenly he heard the kids behind him… doing a team soul resonance. He quickly turned, holding Medusa in front of them as they resonated and prepared their attack. However, this opened up his back to Varia, Stein and Spirit. He realised this and began to turn again, but it was too late. Mid-turn, he was hit by three resonating teams on his left side, and a witch's attack and another resonating team on his right. He had no chance.

"Glad that's over," Varia spat where he'd been standing. Even his book had been destroyed in the chaos. "Now let's go home," she smiled weakly, for all that would meet her there was her inevitable death. However, she kept this from the others.

They went into town and took the soonest available commercial flight, despite the late time. When they arrived in Death City, Maka, Soul, Tsubaki and Black Star all went home, exhausted. Even Black Star wasn't making his usual remarks about how amazing he was. Despite the fact that they were just as exhausted, Varia, Kid and the girls went to the Death room for a meeting about Varia. Kid made it clear he was against them killing her.

"Varia," Death said as she stepped in. The others were right behind her. She hung her head.

"I'm so sorry, Death. I was scared, but I'm prepared for my fate no-"

"I can't believe after all those years you thought I would kill you just like that!" Death slapped her. She put her hand to her face, astonished.

"But I'm a witch… you can't just have a witch living at Shibusen, raising your child."

"Varia… you're the one who taught me that not all witches were bad," Death's tone was serious. Kid, sensing it was going to get awkward for them soon, backed out of the room, the girls coming with. Patty began giggling about 'looooooove.'

"We currently have about 5 witches living in Death City, and we won't be making any moves against them," he continued.

"So… I don't have to die?" Varia hadn't expected anything but hatred after the way she'd treated him. "But I treated you so terribly…"

"Are you asking me for death?"

"N-no! I… can you ever forgive me for what I did?"

"I forgave you the moment I learned he didn't remember you. He didn't have any bad feelings about the past years. He didn't really remember what he'd been doing for the past months, just that he'd had so much fun."

"And he didn't feel the regret of leaving me," she began.

"Because he didn't remember you," Death finished. "But now, if you want, we can try again."

"Like old times," Varia smiled and hugged Death, overjoyed.

"Penalty game! If we win, Kid has to pull out his left pockets!"

"_WHAT?!_" Kid protested. "No! That's absurd! Not even a normal person pulls only _one _pocket out!"

"And if _we _win," Maka grinned, ignorant to Kid's protests. "You have to say that we're more powerful than you, on tape!"

"Ooh, you play rough," Black Star grinned. "But no matter, we won't lose. Right, Soul?" Soul grinned.

"Right!" The game began, and it was close, for once. In the end it was a tie, 8-8. Kid was extremely pleased with this. Then he realised his dilemma. The next goal was the winning goal. If he shot it in, he would ruin then symmetry of the score. But if he didn't shoot, he would be forced to ruin his personal symmetry! In his thought, however, Black Star rushed past him and shot the last goal in.

"Nooooo!" Kid put his head in his hands. "Rematch!" The others wouldn't hear any of it. Though Maka didn't help them, she didn't stop as Black Star held Kid's reluctant arms. Soul pulled out his pant pocket on the left side, Kid protesting the whole time. Just in case, he duct-taped the pocket down.

"Maka, make sure he leaves it like that for at least an hour," Soul was practically laughing.

"Oh, come on, don't you think that's a bit harsh?" Kid, still being held by Black Star, had resigned to tearful silence. "Surely he can take it off sooner."

"Weell…. Okay. Half an hour. But no less!" Black Star and Soul then ran off, laughing.

"Sorry, Kid, but I had to shop with my dad when my team lost last time. You gotta keep it on," Maka patted him on the back. He had curled up in a ball, silent. However, when the others had left, he pulled out his right pocket and also duct-taped it down.

"They never said I couldn't pull this one out," he grinned. He took the duct tape that Soul had dropped and taped it down. He was clearly uncomfortable, but it was better than the alternative. When Maka clicked the stopwatch, he was almost as energetic as Patty. Maka laughed. He took off the tape strips and put his pockets back in.

"Looks like things are finally back to normal," she smiled, and took Kid's hand.

"Maybe not quite the same as before, though," Kid said. They hugged. "Thank you, Maka."

"For what?"

"For being there for me."

"Come on," she said, breaking the embrace and tugging him behind her. "Let's have a party, at my house this time."


End file.
